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My Life In Ruins

Nia Vardalos, Richard Dreyfuss

"Success comes in all shapes and sizes and ages. I have three different sizes of clothes in my closet, and that to me is the key to happiness. I love my body!" – Nia Vardalos

Canadian Nia Vardalos appeared to be going nowhere fast. Almost 40 years old in an industry that valued youth and beauty, she did not have much to show for having been in Hollywood almost a decade, a couple of episodes of “Boy Meets World,” an episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Drew Carey Show” and about a dozen other television series that no one every heard of. She had been a regular in only one series that had lasted over a season and even then, she was just a voice, Domino on “Team Knight Rider.’’ There were some small parts in a couple of TV movies, but not much else to show for the Second City alum. Fat and frumpy by Tinseltown standards, with a nose that seemed to dominate her face, Nia had grown discontented with the numerous agents she had had over the years, stating, "I had one agent after another sending me out for fat-ugly-girl parts or Italian parts and they would caution me, `Don't tell them you're Greek.’" In a final ditch effort to find an agent who would value her as a client, Nia decided to draw on what she knew, her large Greek family back in Winnipeg. She developed a one-woman show around stories about them and other Greek families she knew, particularly her relationship with her husband Ian Gomez, who experienced a bit of an ethnic culture shock when he was introduced to her family. As she noted, “I basically took every Greek wedding I’ve ever been to, including mine, and on a scale of one to ten, I turned it up to an eleven.” All she was hoping for was that someone would see her talent and want to represent her and, in a pleasant surprise, it became fairly popular. Numerous bigwigs had shown up including Rita Wilson, the wife of Tom Hanks, and her mother. The two women loved Nia’s show, thought it had the basis to be a wonderful movie, and urged Hanks, who owned his own production company, Playtone, to see the show. Hanks quietly watched her performance and left, a few days later Nia got a wonderful letter from the actor telling her how his marriage to his Greek wife had changed his life and how meaningful the play was to him. Touched, every few days Vardalos talked to her mother on the phone, read the letter and her mother would cry on the other end. Two months later, Hanks phoned Nia and the actress quickly hung up on him believing it was a gag by one of her pals, but when Hanks reconnected with her, convinced her it was really him, he expressed an interest in turning it into a movie, maybe as a star vehicle for Rita. Other production companies had made similar phone calls but backed away when Vardalos stated that she wanted to be the lead because it was her story. Surprisingly, Hanks agreed and green lit the project. With a budget of just $5 million, it was not much of a risk for Playtone, with their relationship with HBO. After an art house and film festival release, the company would make a small profit through cable and television rights, and vhs rentals.

Given just $150,000 for acting, more money than Nia had seen in her life, and sent up to Toronto to shoot, it was supposed to be a minor release that would escape the notice of most moviegoers. In an era with a blockbuster mentality, where films are in and out of theaters within a few weeks, My Big Fat Greek Wedding hung on and through word of mouth was building larger crowds and in more theaters as each week passed. The small little movie became a phenomenon. It hung around so long that it became the 5^th highest grossing film of 2002, grossing over $368 million worldwide, and the highest-grossing romantic comedy in the history of cinema to that point. Not only did audiences love the film, but it was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

The title of the film entered the cultural lexicon and the sky seemed limitless for Nia. CBS stepped forward to offer Vardalos a chance to continue the success of the film as a television series, “My Big Fat Greek Life.” With the entire cast onboard, except for leading man John Corbett (replaced by Steven Eckholdt), it seemed like a natural, especially because television allowed for character development that movies could not offer and the movie was all about characters. It fell on its face, lasting only seven episodes before it was mercifully cancelled. A year later, she tried to strike cinematic gold again by writing and starring in Connie and Carla along with Toni Collette, who herself had had a wedding themed sleeper hit almost a decade earlier with Muriel’s Wedding. A female rip off of Some Like It Hot, it bombed, taking in just $8.1 million against a budget of $27 million. Was she a one hit wonder? Now in her mid-40s, Hollywood was not taking a chance, shuttling Nia off to retirement.

Not so fast…After five years, Nia Vardalos is back with My Life In Ruins. Not only is Nia involved in the writing, along with Mike Reiss of “The Simpsons” fame, but it hits the main two themes that made her first film the sleeper hit that swept the nation, Greek culture and romance. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson on board as producers again. This time Nia is Georgia, a Greek-American tour guide who shows tourists the wonderful sites of her native land. The history she gives them seems to go right over their heads as cultures and personalities clash. Standup comedians Alistair McGowan and Harland Williams are onboard to yuck it up. Then into her life comes Irv Gordon (Richard Dreyfuss) who changes her outlook on life. Still will she find love with Irv or her Greek bus driver (Alexis Georgoulis)?

Maybe the bigger question is will anyone be in the audience to find out. In a spot usually held for Hugh Grant, Nia’s film is being pitted against the biggest film of 2009, the relaunch of the Star Trek franchise, the premise being that people not interested in the adventures of James T. Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the Enterprise, i.e. women, will go to this instead. What I found is, if people are not interested in going to the biggest cinematic blockbuster of the year, they usually stay home rather than put up with the crowds and long lines at the ticket counter and snack bar. Almost every time this cross-programming is attempted, taking a light romance and opening against a huge blockbuster, it fails even with very good films that eventually find their audiences on dvd. When you have the chance to sail through the stars, most people are not going to climb onboard a tourist bus with a middle-aged woman instead.

It is a shame because this is a nice little film, not great, but it deserves a larger audience than it is going to get. Nia has a real energy on-screen and those who remember the first George Bush as President will really enjoy this small tale. It is nowhere in the galaxy of Star Trek, but little films rarely are. All the stars lined up just right for My Big Fat Greek Wedding to find a mass audience, I do not think the same thing will happen with My Life In Ruins. There are dozens of little films like that every year. Most like The Bread, My Sweet, Twin Falls, Idaho, The Rapture, Bella, Millions, never find the audience they deserve. Given that Tom Hanks is involved, with all his connections to HBO, I am sure Nia’s film will get plenty of eyes eventually. If not this one, then her next one, I Hate Valentine's Day.

Verdict: A Nice Little Film